The game of golf is one of the most longstanding and widely played games to date. One of the virtues of golf is its intrinsic simplicity requiring a minimum of equipment and possessing few complex rules. However, due in part to the heightened media coverage of golf at the top level and a corresponding increase in popularity with the game as a whole, a greater emphasis has been placed on the standard and maintenance of existing and new golf courses.
Whilst differing settings for the golf courses engender different feelings of challenge, satisfaction and general wellbeing to the players, the ultimate focus of each game is primarily the actual golf hole itself. Whilst the golf hole may not normally receive much direct consideration from the players it is nevertheless a fundamental requirement that each hole should be of a uniform size and standard and that deterioration of the golf hole periphery which may affect player's strokes is kept to an absolute minimum.
The maintenance of a golf course is primarily the work of a relatively small number of people i.e., green keepers and possibly some support staff who may or may not be paid and/or full time dependent on the size of the golf club. Large high profile international venues would clearly have greater resources for support staff and equipment and would be expected to maintain each hole in a pristine condition. The level of maintenance at less prestigious clubs extending through to local town and private golf clubs would naturally be somewhat lower, and consequently individual golf holes would be expected to be used for more prolonged periods without maintenance.
Although the timing of the following sequence would vary according to the available resources of the golf club as discussed above, a fresh hole would initially be cut by known means using a cylindrical golf hole cutter and the extracted turf and earth (assuming the presence of a previous hole) is replaced into the existing hole. A substantially cylindrical plastic holder is inserted into the bottom of the golf hole and this provides lateral support for the hole walls and a central aperture for the insertion of a flag.
The hole would then be left untouched for a period of time until the performance of remedial maintenance by the grounds staff. Such procedures include the trimming/removing of any overhanging dirt and/or grass surrounding the periphery of the hole which may respectively have sagged inwards over the top of the golf holder insert or, dependent on the time scale involved simply have grown in place.
Existing tools for such maintenance include scissors—both conventional and shaped, curved pressure boards and cutting implements. The work is time consuming and requires skilled input. The typical restrictions on resources and time available for such maintenance places a direct limitation on the frequency in which all the holes of the golf course may be attended. After a given time, the ground staff would determine that a hole may no longer be successfully maintained and a fresh golf hole would be cut. The earth and turf extracted from the new hole would be replaced into the old hole and the sequence would be repeated.
Clearly, any device which would speed the process of maintaining the golf holes would be advantageous to both the ground staff,—by virtue of their increased efficiency, and eventually to the players by a possible lowering of green fees and/or any other overhead-related costs.
Furthermore, it would be also advantageous to provide a means of ensuring a uniform and accurate golf hole could be provided with minimum of expertise to ensure that each hole meets the desired dimensional requirements of the respective governing bodies of the sport.
There are also other non-golfing applications where it is desirable to trim material from the edge of an aperture where access is only possible or convenient from one side of the aperture. This type of restriction may be found in a variety of applications where an existing aperture may have been formed with a roughened edge and requires a precise finishing, such as apertures in large sheets of paper, carpet, walls, roofs, floors, piping and so forth.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.